Sean O'Scannlain

Sean J. O’Scannlain founded Fortune International in Bensenville, Illinois in 2001.  Since its inception, Fortune has grown into the Midwest’s leader in premium quality seafood and gourmet products.  Today, Fortune International employs over 1400 people and is the parent company of Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Chef Martin, Coastal Seafoods and Lobster Gram. Prior to opening his own company, O’Scannlain was the President of The Plitt Company from 1995-2001 and Executive Vice President of Chicago Fish House from 1992-1995. 

 
O’Scannlain is a well-respected leader in the seafood industry, and he is a past Chairman of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), the seafood industry’s national trade association. O'Scannlain is also active in FishPAC, the NFI’s political action committee, which directs political contributions and activities on behalf of the seafood community.   He is a founding member of Sea Pact, a group of like-minded seafood companies dedicated to driving stewardship and continuous improvement of social, economic and environmental responsibility throughout the global seafood supply chain.  O’Scannlain is also very active in his local community.  Fortune International makes weekly donations to local food banks and supports several charity events yearly with monetary and product donations.  He sits on the Board of Directors for the Ann & Robert Lurie’s Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago.  Through his volunteerism and dedication, O’Scannlain sets a strong example to his employees of consistently giving back to their industry and the local community.

In addition to the NFI and Sea Pact, Fortune Fish & Gourmet is also a member of the Seafood Choices Alliance, the Chef’s Collaborative, the Global Aquaculture Alliance, the American Cheese Society, the Specialty Food Association and has been Marine Stewardship Council chain of custody certified since August of 2008.  During his career, O’Scannlain has shown his dedication as an agent of change within the food industry by advocating for sustainable food production and growing domestic aquaculture based on sound public policy and ground truth science.
 
O’Scannlain grew up in Portland, Oregon and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.  He received a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.  O’Scannlain and his wife Jennifer have five children and reside in the City of Chicago.